Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-03-31
BERRY CULTURE.
labor ana Fertilizers Necessary to Make IL
Profitable Venture.

Labor ana Fertilizers Necessary to Make II
Profitable Venture.
There certainly is ''room at the top"
In berry culture as in all others, if we
only succeed in getting there, but the
mere fact of being able to grow the
largest and finest berries does not prove.
that the grower of said berries is stand
ing on the topmost round of the horti-
cultural ladder while he measures his
gold and silver (dry measure) and looks
complacently down upon his toiline
brethren below. Frequently the finest
fruit is grown by amateurs who engage
in this pursuit in small way, merely
for the pleasure of it, without the most
remote expectation of realizing any
profit thereby. There are two ways to
get rich. One is to make your income
exceed your expenses, and the other
way is to cut your expenses down be-
low your income. Soin growing straw
berries, one way to realize profit is 10
make liberal outlay of labor and fer
tilizers on suitable soil and produce a
fancy article, and then make the in
come therefrom exceed the expense q
producing it if you can.
There is always more or less demand
for this class of berries, and in many
markets the price is enough higher to
pay the extra expense, and, in fact,
think there are some localities where
large berries can be grown nearly or
quite as cheaply as the smaller varie-
ties. OF course the fancy bercies would
be the more profitable in such cases.
Again there are other markets where
there is so little difference in the price
between a good article of medium-siZed
berries, say Crescents for instance, and
larger ones that Crescents and others
of that class are the most profitable.
and will continue to be until the public
is educated to pay higher price for the
larger berries, if that time ever comes.
A conversation with grower some six
or eight miles from me, ON whose soil
the Wilson still flOurishes finely, will
illustrate this point.
Said he: my load of berries yester-
day brought me eighty-two dollars.
Mr.. c." (naming a grower who has the
reputation of brin ging the finest berries
to market) picked about the same
area of ground (Sharpless) that did,.
and his load brought him about thirty
seven dollars Most commercial
growers are in the business for the
money there is supposed to be in it.
and with them the question resolves it
self to this: Which will give the great
est net profit. growing fancy berries
for those who are willing to pay fancy
prices, or growing good common Der.
ries for good comm0n people? In this
as in many other cases the answer ''de-
ponds" first, on your market; second,
on your soil. The time may come, and
possibly may have already arrived,
when we shall possess varieties come
bining size, quality and productivencsS
in the highest degree, and then we can e
all grow fancy berries and pick out the
largest ones and stuff them with short {.
cake "a la mode Thanksgiving turkey1
and roast them or freeze them, accord
ing to taste.
AS to sorting berries 1 tried it one
season. and do not care for more ex-
perience in that line right away. With
proper management and culture 4 find
it unnecessary to sort berries until
toward the close OF the season, wheH
the berries begin to grow small. Then
the pickers sort them, by either pick
ing them for themselves or leaving
them on the vines, sometimes giving
u small Share to the owner to use Tor
jam, jelly or TO sell TO some of the
for the same purpose. 1 thus =.
save the expense of sorting. and Of
paying for the picking of poor berriess n
and avoid the unpleasant and uns
profitable necessity of sending inferiOg
fruit to market. A speaker stated ~
the last meeting of the Ohio Horticui-
tural Society that he always sorted his
red raspberries by pouring them out OF .
the baskets and sorting into others.
but it seems to me that this is unneces-
sary and highly injurious to tire fruit
". W. F0r71Sa1O7th, in Ohio Farmer.